Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Dol is a small village tucked away in the deep recesses of a small valley of the island of Brač, which explains the name that merely means 'valley' in Croatian. It's a really lovely village that doesn't seem to see a lot of traffic and because it's not near the beach, the look of the town is 100% authentic with no ugly beach apartments. This also explains why there are only 112 people living in a village that once sported a slightly more bustling 750 souls. It is here, nestled in a 130 year old house and wine cellar that Frane Matulić makes his wines.     He started four years previous and is currently pumping out 27,000 liters of wine a year. This is produced from the one hectare that he cultivates and about 20 more that he buys from. There is a wine growing tradition in his family, which has been additionally tempered with a dose of large business acumen working as the general director for Badel 1892, a massive alcohol producer in Croatia that is based in Zagreb. It was only after working there for 25 years that he decided to somewhat retired and start making wine. Of which, he makes several varietals: Plavac Mali, Pošip, Viver (a red), and Vivera (a white).     We started off tasting his 2005 Plavac Mali barrique. It has a nice earthy nose on top of standard Plavac aromas. There are a bit of moist blackberries that carry though under the top aromas of the nose. While the body is a tad acidic at first, it mellows out a great deal with air. The finish cleans up with some nice round buttery tones. Even still, Frane is something of a perfectionist and says that his 2006 vintage will be even stronger because it actually spent less time in the barrels. We could taste the difference the barrels made when we moved to the 2005 Plavac Mali that hadn't been barrel-aged. The lack of oak in this vintage makes it even more drinkable than the barrique. The body is very light and easygoing. The light berries in the nose come through even easier and as Frane showed us, it is quite splendid when blended with the barrique 50-50.     Frane is very interesting fellow who, despite his business background is right at home amongst the grapes. Given his ability to change and grow with his wines, the vintages in the next few years will undoubtedly be sound examples of the fine wine making tradition on Brač that died out for awhile, yet is coming back to some degree.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          The island of Brač, the third biggest of the 1,184 off the cost of Croatia, and the biggest in the region of Dalmatia, is mostly known for its postcard-perfect beach in the town of Bol. Described by the Croatian Tourist Board brochures as "the most beautiful beach on the Adriatic", the famous Zlatni Rat (Golden Beach in Croatian) owes its fame to its original cone shape and for being one of the very few on the Croatian coast that features sand instead of rocks, pebbles, or the most unfortunate: concrete.     Although currently the economy of Brač is based mostly on beach tourism, historically it has always been famous for its wines, goat cheese, and olive oil (as well as its white stone which, as a side note, it was used to build the White House in DC).     Nowadays the biggest and oldest winery in Brač is PZ Bol, the island's cooperative that now belongs to the Jeruzalem wine company in Zagreb. Founded over a hundred years ago, in 1903, it is located in quite a scenic location right on Bol's harbor overlooking the ships by the shore, just a few minutes away from its famous beaches.     During our brief visit to Bol we didn't get the chance to suntan, but me managed to taste PZ Bol's main wines, their standard quality Plavac Bol and Pošip. They also make table wines made grapes from their cooperants all over Brač's land, but the Plavac is only made of grapes from the Bol and Murvica area.     The Plavac Bol we tasted, from 2004, had the typical aroma of Plavac Mali grapes, but it had a bit stronger nose than others. The body was quite dry with a slight fruitiness to it and a relatively smooth finish.     The Pošip, from 2006 was a pleasant white with a fresh finish to it. The nose had some apricot in it, and the body had a touch of dryness as well as some citrus tones to it.     Overall, it was surprising to find such drinkable wines at very affordable prices in such a touristic location. From the flow of sunbathers that kept leaving the place with piles of bottles, it appears that our opinion was shared.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Two more of the smaller producers on Korčula are Bleuš and Kunjašić. They are both located around Smokvica and like many wine makers of this size, very tricky to find. You see, their cellars look just like any other house on the street and it's not until you go inside that you see a whole wine making operation spread out from behind the old doors. It also makes it impossible to just drop by for a tasting or a visit, since you need to know someone who knows someone to call them and actually meet you as was the case when we went to Bleuš. But, they will always make it worth the hunt by rewarding you with good wines and great hospitality.     Bleuš is a tricky name, since it really is the Stanojević Family that produces the wine now. Well, actually, it still is the Bleuš family (which they believe is really of French origins), but there were just two daughters to inherit the winery after their father passed away and it still is the custom for it to be the man's family name on the wine, even if it wasn't his family that originally produced it. But, this is changing as you'll see Stanojević Family on the bottle, but with a Bleuš title. A tad bit confusing, but such are the customs and the cultural changes that are slowly happening.     We tasted the 2006 Pošip from Bleuš. It had spent seven months aging in stainless steel and had light cherry aromas to the nose along with a bit of peach and apricot. Overall, there was an abundance of spring aromas blossoming out of it and it opens up quite a bit as it breaths. The body is dry with considerably lighter tones to it that pass in to the finish of the wine.     When it came time to visit Kunjašić, that proved even more difficult as we always seemed to catch him while he was out in the field and much like Bleuš, he was one of those wine growers that you had to be shown exactly where his cellar was in order to find it. Kunjašić produces a number of other wines that we were not able to taste, which in the end left us thinking to the next time we visit, because there is always a next time in Croatia. But thankfully, local pride was our friend and we were able to taste his 2005 Pošip at a restaurant in Korčula Grad. It opened up like most of the Pošips on the island, but had a bit more fruit, placing it somewhere between what Bleuš does and what Čara does.     It will be interesting to watch how both of these wineries progress, especially Bleuš, seeing as how this is their very first vintage.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Like most single-owner Croatian wineries, the story of Toreta on Korčula is all about a family history of wine making that stopped during Communism and is now working to produce again. In this case, the man who has taken up the helm is the very young Frano Banicević, who, at 25 has begun to run the winery that his great-grandfather built at the turn of the 20th century. Like most of the new generation in Croatia that are taking over from their parents or grandparents, they are full of ideas and ways to get their wines more well-known. One of the biggest examples of this is that fact that there are actually signs to the Toreta winery and it is quite easy to find in Smokvica. Others are a little more subtle like a gradual change in the design of the bottle labels. While seen as something of a waste by the older generations, Frano is keenly aware of how much it affects the decision of the consumer.     The one thing that really doesn't change is the commitment to producing good wines. We tried two of their vintages in the tasting room that they have in 'downtown' Smokvica. By the way, 'smokva' is the Croatian word for fig and the region was apparently covered in them prior to massive wine cultivation. There still are some being grown and if you get the chance to try a fig jam from Dalmatia, do so as they're some of the best in the world, but I deliciously digress.     Toreta's 2005 Pošip at 13.9% alcohol is aged in Slavonian Oak. It starts out with a lovely, sweet nose that has aromatic touches of honey, apple, and a bit of pear. The body is full and surprisingly heavy, in that a great bit of the nose gets lost in it, but many of the tones come through regardless, all the way to a bit of lemon on the finish.     The Toreta is a 12.5% alcohol Plavac that is only classified as 'stolno' or table wine. Frano warned me about it not being that amazing before I tasted it, but I think he really sells the wine far too short, as it is actually quite good. While not a Dingač, it still retains a few of the elements in the nose. The body drops all of this and is quite light, but the high acidity you can taste in the wine speaks to me that it would pair extremely well with most any dish.     Visiting Toreta was a very pleasing experience overall to see how the younger generation of Korčula is slowly gaining the reigns from the older generation and doing it with what appears to be relative ease.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Built in 1983, the company that is now Pošip Čara on the island of Korčula, started as one of the Yugoslavian wine making collectives. All of the grapes from the surrounding area in the town of Čara fed in to this one factory to produce the wines of which 90% were whites. There were 100 hectares of land which over time became dedicated to the production of Pošip. In standard Communist thinking, this centralized production made sense as there were plenty of areas that produced reds, so why not focus this region on just whites as they grew extremely well there? Well, the result of this today is that the region is still primarily growing only whites and while there are a few private growers in the region, the now privately owned Pošip Čara still dominates production with 300,000 bottles a year leaving their doors.     This is all done with a scant 10 people on staff, of which, one is Toni Tomić who was actually a mechanic, showing us around as he spoke the best English. But, even though he worked on the equipment that made the wine, he knew a considerable amount about the wines and the history of the company. Later we found out that he is one of the people who has been with the company since the first day they started to produce.     The most likely reason for Pošip Čara's success is that they focus on just a few wines. They have a little bit of table Plavac that they produce, but the real meat is in the Pošip. We tasted the 2006 varietal which was pleasant and much like most standard Pošip wines. There are some nice fruit aromas, but it has a bit of a Sauvignon Blanc finish to it. But, it did work as a good entry point for the Marko Polo, which is their flagship wine and what a wine it is with a honeysuckle and flowery nose that leads in a body full of strong fruits. Amazingly, neither of wines are aged in oak. They reserve that for a mere 200 liters that no matter how much we begged, we were not able to get at. We assume that they are also not available for sale as they are undoubtedly quite remarkable.     In a sharp contrast to Pošip Čara is Jedinstvo PZ which is a bit down the road outside of Smokvica. They were also a collective, but started earlier in 1954. Their privatization went much differently and they focused on producing a greater number of wines, but at a much lower rating level that ranges from wines you buy by the liter to low-end 'quality' level wines that are mostly suitable for drinking with a meal.     It is interesting to see how these two wine making companies with similar roots in such a small area have diverged so much in the tastes of wines that they produce. But, if you're a white wine lover and haven't tried Pošip yet, we highly recommend Pošip Čara.